OK, I watched the clip, and did not read any post after that. I am going to answer this post without reading anyone elses response. All that I can say is that I went to referee training the other day in Chicago and had Herb Silva, an MLS assessor and scheduler for MLS referees, do about five hours of training on specific fouls, and the repercussions of these fouls. One such foul was exactly like the one shown in that clip. It has been brought to the attention to the referees that do games at the premier league level and Academy level games that certain fouls have to be dealt with in a more severe way than we have been used to dealing with them in the past. This foul, as discussed for about 15 minutes, is a red card send off offense. This is coming from the MLS level. They want players that foul like this to have this behavior limited by the time they make it to the professional level. They do not want the $25,000 a year player taking out a $500,000 a year player because they have been allowed to before. Another intersting statement that I heard this last weekend is that the foul you don't do anything about, or not enough about on your field, you are saying is OK to continue to do on your field when you are officiating. I would have to say that I would not want this keeper to do this on my field, and I would send him off in an instant. Now you may ask why...what has the player done that would warrant his send off?
1) He comes in cleats blazing. His cleats are up=intent to hurt.
2) Reckless playing or lack of skill does not excuse a player for a foul as such.
3) There are mandates coming from the top referees and leagues in the United States to prevent these fouls from being the norm in a game. They are not to be tolerated. We will fail an assessment if a foul like this is not given a straight red.
This is about as simple as the calls get. Toss him, team down to 10 for a stupid player leading with cleats displayed looking like he has the intent to hurt the opposing player.
Now I will go back and read the other comments, and I may comment again soon.....
